A woman’s hair is her crowning glory. And that’s the reason many women would do just about anything as well as spend so much money to ensure that they have healthy, full and lustrous hair.
Although, no woman wants to experience hair breakage but if your hair is breaking off, the good news is that you are not alone. The truth is that whether you believe it or not, experiencing hair breakage makes having a good hair day difficult to achieve. The good news however, is that, you don’t have to live with it as there are tips on how to stop hair breakage and achieve a healthy hair.
What is hair breakage?
Hair breakage has many different causes. It is a condition where the hair breaks off faster than it is growing. Healthy hair depends on an inner cuticle with overlapping scales that keep hair strands together. However, when these scales fall apart, the hair can get dry and eventually separate, leading to damage. This causes breakage, along with other symptoms, such as frizz and dryness. Often times, the hair changes colour and turn into split ends before breaking off.
According to Bunmi Romiluyi, a Trichologist at the Natures Gentle Touch Hair Institute, hair retention must pass through three stages of growth which are: anagen stage, catagen stage and telogen stage. She added that research has revealed that the hair grows half an inch each month.
Hair retention is affected by a couple of factors which include:
Dryness
A hair that is excessively dry and brittle can easily break off. This is due to hair left without moisture or oil to maintain its natural sheen and texture.
Over-processing of the hair
Chemical actions on the hair (like relaxing and hair colouring) can give one more styling options, they leave one temporarily satisfied and cause severe damage, scalp irritation, breakage and hair loss if proper hair maintenance treatment is not properly done afterwards.
Medical conditions such as eating disorders, stress can also affect length retention.
Over-washing and improper towel drying
Frequent washing of the hair poses a great risk to the hair because when the hair is wet, it becomes very fragile and is prone to breakage. Also, the hair gets stripped of the natural oils it needs to stay in top shape.
Incorrect brushing and coming of the hair
It is normal to lose about 40-100 strands a day while combing, however, improper combing or brushing of the hair affects hair length retention
How to stop hair breakage
Healthy hair begins with a healthy hair care regime. The easiest way to stop hair breakage is to avoid unhealthy hair practices as these are the foremost reasons for hair breakage.
Here are some tips to make your hair healthy
- Always be gentle when combing your wet hair. Run the hair with a broad toothed comb from the roots to the ends very gentle.
- Trim about an inch of your hair every 6 to 8 weeks to get rid of the brown and rough split ends.
- Avoid heat styling your hair often and use lower temperature if you eventually decide to heat style your hair. Also make use of a heat protectant spray when you do.
- Tight braids and ponytails definitely looks good, but they put a lot of stress and pressure on your hair and scalp. They create crimps and breakage in hair breakage over time. So, it is best for one to avoid carrying them for a long period of time. Do not use rubber bands on the hair as they can cause the hair to split and break.
- The hair is also affected by diet. Drink a lot of water, eat food that contain protein, minerals, vitamins and iron because they aid healthy hair growth.
- Avoid washing your hair on a daily basis because this deprives the hair of its natural oils making it dry and prone to permanent damage and hair breakage.
- Deep conditioning also helps to stop hair breakage as it contains fats a d oils which are good for the hair to prevent and repair hair breakage.
- Make use of satin or silk pillowcase as it reduces the snagging while you sleep rather than on cotton pillowcase which could cause your hair to break off more than usual due to the friction between your hair and the fabric while you sleep.
If your hair breakage is severe and does not show any improvement with the above tips, consult a hair specialist for your hair breakage treatment.
